The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-05 13:59:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：J. Kenji López-Alt
- ISBN：0393081087
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it？ How to make homemade mac 'n' cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff， but far tastier？ How to roast a succulent， moist turkey （forget about brining！）—and use a foolproof method that works every time？
As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence， J。 Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more。 In The Food Lab， Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes， delving into the interactions between heat， energy， and molecules that create great food。 Kenji shows that often， conventional methods don’t work that well， and home cooks can achieve far better results using new—but simple—techniques。 In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1，000 full-color images， you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes， how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes， how to make the crispiest， creamiest potato casserole ever conceived， and much more。
As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence， J。 Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more。 In The Food Lab， Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes， delving into the interactions between heat， energy， and molecules that create great food。 Kenji shows that often， conventional methods don’t work that well， and home cooks can achieve far better results using new—but simple—techniques。 In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1，000 full-color images， you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes， how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes， how to make the crispiest， creamiest potato casserole ever conceived， and much more。
Reviews
Harry Harman
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#1 book on cooking great food。If you're still buying Jamie Oliver books do yourself a favour and throw those outdated books in the fryer。 Buy this。This is the indispensable guide to cooking for a small dinner party。 If you're earning > 10k /m get your personal chef a copy and tell them it's required reading。As Keith Ferrazzi alludes to in his book， "Never Eat Alone，" there's no greater way to collapse time to getting to know someone than inviting them to your home， breaking bread together， and s #1 book on cooking great food。If you're still buying Jamie Oliver books do yourself a favour and throw those outdated books in the fryer。 Buy this。This is the indispensable guide to cooking for a small dinner party。 If you're earning > 10k /m get your personal chef a copy and tell them it's required reading。As Keith Ferrazzi alludes to in his book， "Never Eat Alone，" there's no greater way to collapse time to getting to know someone than inviting them to your home， breaking bread together， and sharing personal stories over the dinner table。 You can dramatically improve that 'experience'， and unconsciously how they remember you， by serving memorable food。 。。。more
Stef
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Different organization， same old same old recipes。 Besides that， read Juli Anna's review: I'm not even a feminist but totally agree with her assessment about the wife comments。 Yuck。 So unnecessary in a cookbook。 Different organization， same old same old recipes。 Besides that， read Juli Anna's review: I'm not even a feminist but totally agree with her assessment about the wife comments。 Yuck。 So unnecessary in a cookbook。 。。。more
Chfuab
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Good book to read
Sarah
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Dnf
Daniel
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This man acts like he invented the concept of recipe testing， but I guess I can't be too annoyed at someone who bothers to show his work。 It is interesting， and it's good to take a second look at common knowledge。Recipe-wise， this is a little too meat-heavy for my taste。 That being said， I did manage to cook my first steak pretty successfully using these instructions， and I managed to riff on a recipe for hash that I still use。 Others I won't be making。 The science be damned， but the idea of add This man acts like he invented the concept of recipe testing， but I guess I can't be too annoyed at someone who bothers to show his work。 It is interesting， and it's good to take a second look at common knowledge。Recipe-wise， this is a little too meat-heavy for my taste。 That being said， I did manage to cook my first steak pretty successfully using these instructions， and I managed to riff on a recipe for hash that I still use。 Others I won't be making。 The science be damned， but the idea of adding gelatin to chicken stock makes me feel things I don't like。 。。。more
tiasreads
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The recipes and too-plentiful information behind them might be solid， but I just can't get past the fact that the author is a massive horse's behind。 An unapologetic misogynist， the attitude behind his writing is "let's just all go ahead and admit I'm smarter than you'll ever be"。 No thank you。 The recipes and too-plentiful information behind them might be solid， but I just can't get past the fact that the author is a massive horse's behind。 An unapologetic misogynist， the attitude behind his writing is "let's just all go ahead and admit I'm smarter than you'll ever be"。 No thank you。 。。。more
Andrea
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This book has given me a new focus this late in the pandemic。 I love to cook and learning more science and technique is always important。 This book provides enough info to make me enthusiastic about cooking again， especially when our favourite restaurants aren’t available right now。 My husband has also taken an interest in a cook book for the first time and we are having fun experimenting with new techniques。
Paula
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This was one of those rare books that I loved so much， I went out and bought my own hardcover copy once my library loan ended。 Kenji runs his own well renowned food blog （Serious Eats） and also is an ex-American's Test Kitchen chef。 He combines his years of knowledge， food experiments， and his MIT science degree to bring forth brilliant cooking techniques to the home kitchen。 This was one of those rare books that I loved so much， I went out and bought my own hardcover copy once my library loan ended。 Kenji runs his own well renowned food blog （Serious Eats） and also is an ex-American's Test Kitchen chef。 He combines his years of knowledge， food experiments， and his MIT science degree to bring forth brilliant cooking techniques to the home kitchen。 。。。more
Maggie
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Kenji is so awesome！ I’ve gained so much from reading and also watching his videos。 Valuable info on the science with cooking， and applying tested technics to cooking things properly。 Will eventually buy this book。
Maria Cloos
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An absolutely fascinating read， both revelatory and vindicating， I would have liked additional details on some things。 For example， with hard-cooked eggs， he tells you to shell them under cold running water immediately after cooking。 But what about when you want to eat them later？ Like for a portable lunch （or Easter eggs）。 In the fish section， there was no discussion of sustainability。 But these are relatively small complaints。 Overall， I loved the side-by-side comparisons of various methods an An absolutely fascinating read， both revelatory and vindicating， I would have liked additional details on some things。 For example， with hard-cooked eggs， he tells you to shell them under cold running water immediately after cooking。 But what about when you want to eat them later？ Like for a portable lunch （or Easter eggs）。 In the fish section， there was no discussion of sustainability。 But these are relatively small complaints。 Overall， I loved the side-by-side comparisons of various methods and detailed explanations as to why each one did or didn’t work。 The writing is also witty， nerdy and entertaining。 I would definitely stand in line for his next book。 。。。more
Jordan Clarke
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This is a must have - I read through the entire book， but have since revisited it several times before cooking。 Highly recommend！
Muhammad Afif
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 haha truly fascinating。ga pernah lagi liat masak dengan pandangan berpikir sebelumnya。kuncinya di suitable gears， suitable cuts， blanching， salt， dan different types of oil。
Sherri
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I loved this cookbook so much I had to buy my own copy of it！ I didn't care for the author's personality， but it has really taught me how to cook meats better。 I usually just land back on the tried and true methods and cuts of meat cooking， but a step by step explanation of why I was doing each step really helped me up my game。 Look forward to using it as a reference。 I loved this cookbook so much I had to buy my own copy of it！ I didn't care for the author's personality， but it has really taught me how to cook meats better。 I usually just land back on the tried and true methods and cuts of meat cooking， but a step by step explanation of why I was doing each step really helped me up my game。 Look forward to using it as a reference。 。。。more
Joy
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We regular make the waffles and pancakes- a bit of extra steps， but totally worth it。 Have made a few other things and they were good， but I made the waffles so often that I think my daughter is even tired of them now。
Sam
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I’ve had this for years but only just had a proper look through。 It’s awesome。 It isn’t just a recipe book， it covers everything you could possibly need to know about cooking， from the gear you need to where things should be placed in your fridge to how to de-bone a trout。If you want to learn how to cook， what you need to cook， what you should be cooking and why the way you cook things works- this is everything you’ll ever need。
Arushi
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Really no surprise。 I love Kenji's approach to cooking， his YouTube videos， his infallible tips about science， his wit and candor。。。 This book inspires me to become a better cook through technique and reinforces my fierce love of there being a "right" way to do things （obviously within reason/much to the dismay of those who cook with me）。 Extremely well-written， organized， and photographed。 He is a truly brilliant chef。 Makes me miss Wursthall！！ Thank you Mom for the best Christmas gift！！！ （This Really no surprise。 I love Kenji's approach to cooking， his YouTube videos， his infallible tips about science， his wit and candor。。。 This book inspires me to become a better cook through technique and reinforces my fierce love of there being a "right" way to do things （obviously within reason/much to the dismay of those who cook with me）。 Extremely well-written， organized， and photographed。 He is a truly brilliant chef。 Makes me miss Wursthall！！ Thank you Mom for the best Christmas gift！！！ （This is kind of an "always reading" type of book given it's a cookbook， but let's move past that）Edit: Lol read some of the other Goodreads reviews about his humor。。 I would say that's subjective。 More of a conversation for offline， but I don't believe Kenji is a misogynist by any stretch of the imagination。 。。。more
Josiah Neumann
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I bought this book after watching countless POV youtube videos where J。 Kenji López-Alt straps a GoPro to his forehead and cooks at home。 His videos were appealing because Kenji made cooking seem very approachable。 There was no snobbery， his kitchen was pretty normal， and nothing was fancy for the sake of impressions。 But Kenji's a smart guy， and he is serious about his foods。 His videos are clear about that。 So as I watched more， I learned a lot and became very hungry。 When his book went on sal I bought this book after watching countless POV youtube videos where J。 Kenji López-Alt straps a GoPro to his forehead and cooks at home。 His videos were appealing because Kenji made cooking seem very approachable。 There was no snobbery， his kitchen was pretty normal， and nothing was fancy for the sake of impressions。 But Kenji's a smart guy， and he is serious about his foods。 His videos are clear about that。 So as I watched more， I learned a lot and became very hungry。 When his book went on sale， I snatched it up， and I'm so grateful that I have。 Kenji has a wonderful voice in his writing， and all the recipes look delicious。 Even better， the writing is worth reading， providing interesting insight into the chemistry and science in cooking。Kenji's an all around cool guy， and he introduces his personal journey with cooking at the beginning of the book。 He gives a solid break down of what is important to have in a kitchen: from knives and pans to instant read thermometers and digital scales。 But you'll quickly notice that he is giving this kitchen item checklist with home cooks in mind。 He gives both professional and affordable suggestions for items。 And this sets in motion an encouraging approach to cooking that is apparent throughout the cook book。 Anyone can cook， and if you don't have experience。。。 That is okay， because anyone can learn。He breaks down recipes into 9 sections: Breakfast， soups/stews， fast cooked meats， ground meats， vegetables， pasta， roasts， salads， and fried foods。 The progression of the book moves towards more complex recipes， the least being soft boiled eggs， and maybe the most complex being a ragu bolognese lasagna。The recipes are great， and they can all be found online。 But if you think that this book is pointless then you are wrong。 Between the recipes， you get insight into how the recipe was developed。 Maybe it differs from traditional recipes， and he explains the science why he strays off the beaten path from tradition。 Kenji is a scientist， and approaches his recipe development with an academic tenacity。 This book is full of graphs， tables， charts， and an occasional experiment you can do to see food science in action。 All of this is helpful， because it makes you a better cook， even when you are cooking recipes that are not in this book。 It's like having an expert with you in the kitchen that is just explaining how things work all the time。 It's great！I read this book cover to cover， and my roommates teased me because it looks more like a text book than a cook book。 But I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it。 It taught me a lot。 It helped me cook more。 And I recommend anyone read this book if they like cooking， likes food， and likes to learn。*Favorite Recipes so far。 I've made probably 20ish recipes of the 250ish total。 My tops so far are the Creamy Mushroom Soup and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes 。。。more
Vi
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i learned a lot！ and i appreciate his dedication to trial and trial and trial and error。 i've tried two？ recipes only so far and they've both been pretty good - his simple red sauce， and his roasted taters。 a lot of the book is dedicated to meatier things that i don't have a whole lot of interest in cooking。his humor is pretty hit or miss， and he reminds me most of a cheerful， cringy and occasionally offensive dad。 i think you can zoop over a lot of it to the tips， tricks and recipes though。 i learned a lot！ and i appreciate his dedication to trial and trial and trial and error。 i've tried two？ recipes only so far and they've both been pretty good - his simple red sauce， and his roasted taters。 a lot of the book is dedicated to meatier things that i don't have a whole lot of interest in cooking。his humor is pretty hit or miss， and he reminds me most of a cheerful， cringy and occasionally offensive dad。 i think you can zoop over a lot of it to the tips， tricks and recipes though。 。。。more
Rosanne
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Interesting and informative。 I’ve been returning back to this over and over again as I’ve cooked different things， but also like a culinary school 101。 Great reference。
Donald Donahue III
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This is the cookbook any aspiring home cook or by those just looking to make major improvements to even the simplest of kitchen skills。 I discovered J。 Kenji Lopez-Alt via his instructional home cooking videos on YouTube where I obsessed over perfecting his chicken Oyakadon and his crispy oven roasted potatoes。 I was amazed at how he took dishes I enjoyed from restaurants and dispel any idea I had that I could never make such a dish in my own kitchen。 I was taken in by the heavily scientific way This is the cookbook any aspiring home cook or by those just looking to make major improvements to even the simplest of kitchen skills。 I discovered J。 Kenji Lopez-Alt via his instructional home cooking videos on YouTube where I obsessed over perfecting his chicken Oyakadon and his crispy oven roasted potatoes。 I was amazed at how he took dishes I enjoyed from restaurants and dispel any idea I had that I could never make such a dish in my own kitchen。 I was taken in by the heavily scientific way he talked about cooking and that mannerism is present in this book in a way that avoids any type of pretension。 I consider myself dumb when it comes to science， but J。 helped me not only gain a better understanding of how science plays into bettering cooking skills， whether they be cooking a steak to a perfect medium-rare or making a great vinaigrette， and applying them to our own skill set （or lack thereof）。 The main pull of this book， aside from the fascinating marriage of the vernaculars between chef and scientist， is the much welcomed honesty on some hot topics in cooking。 J。 Kenji is here to tell you yes that stainless steel sauce pan made by a C tier brand name that costs a 3rd of the price of an expensive All Clad brand pan works just fine and even comparable in quality。 Meat that is labeled "Natural" is not the same as "Naturally Raised"。 Heck， this guy got me to appreciate mayonnaise and salad more than I imagined I could have。 By this time I should clarify this is not a "recipe" book per se。 There are recipes， but this book's main focus is helping the reader better understand the nooks and crannies of how science plays into the bettering of what we're making in the kitchen。Whether you're looking to start cooking or looking to greatly improve the skills you already have， this is THE book。 Interesting， entertaining， and at times hilariously written， J。 Kenji feels like a new friend you've made helping you feel encouraged to become a better cook with plenty of anecdotes， interesting facts， and sometimes though love。 。。。more
Sarah
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I love this book and refer to it often， have learned a lot from Kenji。 He loses a star， though， for constantly making dumb references to his wife。 It is so common in this book as to be distracting and crazymaking。
Art3mis
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Read this for the science and not for the author's writing/jokes/etc。 and you'll get a great How To: Kitchen。 Read this for the science and not for the author's writing/jokes/etc。 and you'll get a great How To: Kitchen。 。。。more
Dwight Agan
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I got the unabridged audio version on Chirp。 Excellent to listen to but there is no pdf to refer to later which would be nice。 Describes how to cook and why， giving the scientific basis。 Disproves many cooking “rules” like frying at too low a temp causes food to absorb more oil。
Kelly Jay
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This is one hefty tome。 It has exhaustive research on various methods of cooking。 This is the book to read for all the methodology behind his recipes。 Recipes are peppered throughout but not the main heft of the book。 There is a lot of minutiae here， which I suppose was his point。 I made the Green Chili recipe and it was delicious。 I suppose if you are really， REALLY into every tiny aspect of the process this will be interesting， but it’s a tough read otherwise。 Took me about 6 months off and on This is one hefty tome。 It has exhaustive research on various methods of cooking。 This is the book to read for all the methodology behind his recipes。 Recipes are peppered throughout but not the main heft of the book。 There is a lot of minutiae here， which I suppose was his point。 I made the Green Chili recipe and it was delicious。 I suppose if you are really， REALLY into every tiny aspect of the process this will be interesting， but it’s a tough read otherwise。 Took me about 6 months off and on。 。。。more
Kym
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This is my kind of cooking！ I love the scientific， myth-busting， science fair approach to why we cook things the way we do， and we shouldn't。 I also love that Lopez-Alt was his own photographer。 He is living one of the lives I want。 The recipes are spot on， the photos are informative and the explanations for why they work are interesting。 Lopez-Alt has been part of the Serious Eats blog for quite some time。 Therefore， many of the recipes included here also appear on the blog。 However， many do no This is my kind of cooking！ I love the scientific， myth-busting， science fair approach to why we cook things the way we do， and we shouldn't。 I also love that Lopez-Alt was his own photographer。 He is living one of the lives I want。 The recipes are spot on， the photos are informative and the explanations for why they work are interesting。 Lopez-Alt has been part of the Serious Eats blog for quite some time。 Therefore， many of the recipes included here also appear on the blog。 However， many do not。 I checked。 There may be similar recipes from other writers on the blog， but not the same as the ones in the book。 I also love the humorous voice of the articles。 Nothing stuffy or chef-y here。 It is a super-fun， success-guaranteed way to cook。 。。。more
Justin Seda
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Excellent book that describes the science behind the foods we love。 A must read for anyone who works in hospitality/food service。
Lisa
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I haven’t cooked anything from this book yet- I have cooked a lot from Kenji’s website， Serious Eats。 Anyway， this is a lot to read- just the intro is something like 90 pages。 And it’s very science-heavy， some interesting， some not。 I normally wouldn’t count a cookbook as a book read， but damn this was a lot of reading！ Full disclosure- I skipped the section about grinding your own sausage。 No thanks on that。
Roobster
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I like the idea and concept of this book。 It's great to have a spotlight on how science is a tool for everyone including the everyday homecook。 However， the author's narrative is a bit pompous。 He treats the readers like children and spouts about the virtues of the scientific method very broadly for a good chunk of this book。 He then proceeds to spend very little time actually practicing the scientific method ie: experimental design， setting up his controls and variables， make a hypothesis， and I like the idea and concept of this book。 It's great to have a spotlight on how science is a tool for everyone including the everyday homecook。 However， the author's narrative is a bit pompous。 He treats the readers like children and spouts about the virtues of the scientific method very broadly for a good chunk of this book。 He then proceeds to spend very little time actually practicing the scientific method ie: experimental design， setting up his controls and variables， make a hypothesis， and describe the results with quantifiable detail。 For example， In the Pizza crust experiment， he spends a good part of the chapter setting up a double blind taste test， which is a pretty fair design， but then spends only a couple lines describing the results。 Mostly saying， all the tasters couldn't tell the difference， except the one with harder water（high mineral content） was more crispy。 but mostly there as no difference。 But humans like crispy。 Like WTF that's your entire description of the results？！！？？ Give me information about average pore sizes of holes in the dough， give me weight of the cooked dough， resistance to sauce penetration， changes in gluten formation， tensile strength of cooked dough， etc。 There is literally an entire field of food sciences he can cite articles with experiments from。 I was also turned off by the "jokes" and condescending ways he refers to women and his own wife。 For example， he unnecessarily compares the length and quality of a relationship he has with a Pot and his personal relationships with women。。。？？ I get it， you like your fancy Le Creuset dutch oven your mother gifted you。 Why not just say， "I really love this pot， I'll keep it for the majority of my lifetime"。 It reads like an affluent College Bro wrote it。。。and has to put in some derogatory things about women to sound cool。 The faux self deprecation jokes also fall fairly flat。 Just not a good look。。。。。 Change your vibes dude。 。。。more
Samantha Mockford
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This book is equal parts science textbook， well-tested cookbook， and funny blog。 I loved the no-nonsense approach to cooking and understanding delicious food— no stylized photos or even anything added to most meats besides salt and pepper。 It’s a behemoth of a book that reads quickly！
Donna
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